Source: South Georgia Medical Center

VALDOSTA – Lowndes County has topped 500 cases of COVID-19.

According to the daily update of the Georgia Department of Public Health status report, 31 more cases of the coronavirus were confirmed Wednesday.

The county has had 505 coronavirus cases essentially doubling its total number of cases in 15 days, according to the report.

In an analysis of Lowndes COVID-19 cases reported by the GDPH, the weekly average of cases has doubled each week during the past four weeks. 

While the surge in cases can partially be attributed to increased testing, Dr. William Grow, South Health District director, said the rate in positive results from people getting tested for the virus rose from 20% to 30% during the last two weeks.

So in essence, more testing has happened, but the positive rate of the tests is also increasing.

As Lowndes surges in cases, the district had not observed an equal rise in hospitalizations, critical cases and seriously ill patients, Grow said. That is positive news, but there is still a chance, he said, seriously affected coronavirus patients could swell in the coming week or two.

GDPH numbers confirm Grow’s assertion as hospitalizations in the county rose close to 25% from 45 cases on May 25 to 59 cases today. That is a quarter of the local case growth rate during the same period, according to The Valdosta Daily Times COVID-19 database.

And case numbers could continue to rise, according to the district health director. “It would not surprise me if we see a further increase in numbers,” Grow said.

As businesses reopen locally, the need for residents to wear masks, social distance and continue improved hygiene remains vitally important, he said.

“We have to keep in mind we’re not through this yet,” Grow said.

Grow added contact tracing has gone well in the district as 80% of cases have had contact tracing and the state sent five more contact tracers down this week to total 10 working for the district. The state is sending another five next week, he said.

Four Lowndes residents have died since the outbreak of coronavirus, according to the health department report.

In the South Health District, 6,434 COVID-19 tests have been performed throughout its 10 counties, according to the Wednesday update of the district COVID-19 website.

The additional information should not be confused with the hospitalization numbers published daily by South Georgia Medical Center. Not all SGMC patients are Lowndes County residents and some patients who have been transferred from other regional hospitals have tested positive for COVID-19, according to past reports.

SGMC was treating 12 confirmed COVID-19 patients, according to its Wednesday daily report.

The hospital had discharged 90 COVID-19 patients and had zero patients waiting for testing results, according to the report. 

Sixteen SGMC patients have died due to the coronavirus, according to the report. Again, not all SGMC patients are Lowndes County residents.

For more data on Lowndes and the surrounding counties, The Valdosta Daily Times has created a database to track COVID-19 across the South Health District.

To reach the database, click the link here.